W&J to host panel discussion on narcotic addiction
The heroin antidote naloxone, which has a brand name of Narcan
Mitchell West, a physician at Gateway Rehabilitation Center of Western Pennsylvania, will appear next month on a panel discussing narcotic dependency and Narcan at Washington & Jefferson College.
Washington & Jefferson College will host a panel discussion next month on narcotic dependency in response to the area’s heroin overdose epidemic and the use of the antidote Narcan.
Michael Crabtree, a W&J professor of psychology, will moderate the Oct. 10 discussion on a topic that, he said, “has become the highlight of our community.”
“Narcan is even in public schools now,” Crabtree said Friday.
He said a Aug. 23 story in the Washington Post about Washington County and its heroin problem was among the reasons he selected the panel topic.
The participants, including Gateway Rehabilitation Center physician Mitchell West, will examine Narcan’s availably in the community.
“It’s that magic bullet drug that brings them out of it,” Crabtree said. “This is a lifesaver. It doesn’t change the addiction.”
He said users have begun to steal Narcan from first responders in order to have a supply in case one of their friends overdoses on heroin.
He said parents of addicts also can get a prescription for Narcan in the event of an overdose at home.
Crabtree said the heroin problem has resulted in backlash from the community after people discuss addiction as a disease.
Venessa Sebetich, assistant marketing director for Greenbriar Rehabilitation Center, and California University of Pennsylvania counselor John Massella, will also join the panel when it meets from 10 a.m. to noon in Room 005 at John A. Swanson Science Center.
To register, visit jayconnected.com/homecoming15.